“Hey,” she says as I jump out of the car. “I’m really sorry, Trevor. I feel like this is all my fault.”
“It’s not,” I answer. “I’m just glad that you got my text right away. We need to do thisnow. I’m afraid if I wait any longer, I’ll lose her forever.”
We both hurry inside and get to work. It’s not a lot of time to get this done. I thought we would have a lot more time than this.
“I really am sorry,” Bridget apologizes again. “I’ve caused you so much trouble.”
“Nah,” I say as I brush it off. I just need to focus on making things right with Ava now before she does something stupid. “It’s not your fault at all. I should have done a better job at making sure Ava was feeling secure. I’m grateful for everything that you have done for us.”
“Really?” she asks with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes. Well, maybe not the getting drugged part,” I laugh.
While Bridget and I worked to finish our secret task so that I could go back to the house and try to get Ava to come back here with me one last time, I am so worried and stressed that I work at record pace to hurry and get done. After we have finished inside the farmhouse, Bridget and I head out to the barn. No sooner had we stepped outside I saw Ava’s car pull up. I’m glad that she is here (mostly because I was afraid that she would get ready to do something stupid like head back to Manhattan), but I am also worried because we aren’t ready yet. I run out to the car to meet her in the drive. Before I even reach the door, she is stepping out and shouting at me with tears in her eyes. As soon as I get close enough to see inside the car, I can see that she has a suitcase on the front seat. This is exactly what I was afraid of.
“I just needed to see it for myself,” she cries. “I needed to see if you would run right back here toher.”
“Ava, please. You’ve got this all wrong. It’s not at all what you think.”
I turn to see Bridget behind me and motion to her to make the calls as she disappears back into the house. Then I turn back to see Ava getting back into her car.
“It’s over,” she cries. “The wedding is off, and we are done. I’m leaving.”
“Ava, no, please,” I plead with her. “Let me explain. Just give me a little more time.”
“I’m done giving you and your ex-girlfriendtime,” she cries as she starts to close the door. “Goodbye, Trevor. This time for good.”
I can’t wait any longer. If I do, I’ll lose her. This might not be how I wanted to do this, but it has to be now. I grab the top of the car door before she can close it and reach inside to take her hand.
“I’m not letting you leave until you come and look at something with me right now,” I say, holding tight to the car door so that she can’t go anywhere.
“I don’t need to see anything more,” she says stubbornly.
“Then I guess we’re going to stand here all day because I’m not letting go of the car until you come with me.”
Ava sighs as if I am torturing her. But then she reluctantly gets out of the car and comes with me.
“You’ve got five minutes,” she says with a scowl. “Then I’m leaving, whether or not I need to drag your arm along with the car door or not.”
“Fine,” I agree as I take her hand gently in mine. “Five minutes will be enough.”
At least I sure as hell hope it will be.
“Where are we going?” she asks as I pull her along with me toward the barn. “If you think that you’re going to fix this with more love-making in the barn, you aresadlymistaken.”
Her voice is the most painful mix of anger and hurt, and I just want to make it all better. Maybe I shouldn’t have even attempted to do this. I just hope it’s not too late. I look back over my shoulder and can see Bridget standing at the back door of the farmhouse. She gives me a thumbs-up, which lets me know that she was at least able to take care of the things inside and that the calls must have worked. Now I just hope Ava reacts to the barn the way that I hoped she would, otherwise the whole thing will have been for nothing and I will have upset the woman I love for no reason at all. When we get to the entrance of the barn, I stop and look into her eyes.
“I love you more than anything in the world,” I say. “And I’m sorry if I did a really shitty job of pulling this all off. I just wanted to give you all the magic that a not-wealthy and not-powerful country guy could give you.”
Ava looks confused and stressed as I put my hand on the barn door and suck in a deep breath. I close my eyes and push open the wide, wooden door. When I open my eyes again to look at Ava’s face, the tears are once again flooding down her cheeks and dripping off the tip of her chin. But this time, instead of pain and sadness on her face, there is a wide and joyful smile.
10
Ava
Iam so shocked and astounded that my breath is completely taken away. I stand just inside of the barn doors and look at the sight in front of me. The entire inside of the barn has been turned into a winter wedding wonderland. The rafters are lit with strands of white and blue twinkling lights, there are fresh flowers lining the sides of the barn, and rows of chairs bordering an aisle that is spread with a long, white satin cloth to walk upon. At the end of the aisle is an altar lit with softly glowing candles.
“Thisis what Bridget has been helping me work on,” Trevor says as he gently wraps his arm around my waist and holds my hand in his. “I wanted to make you a beautiful wedding surprise. I had intended for it to be weeks from now, but you forced my hand when you thought there was something going on between me and Bridget and I knew I couldn’t wait any longer. So, we kicked things up a notch and made it happennow.”
